Together Again
by ddvvddee
Summary: Sam has been away on tour in Afghanistan for over 18 months and Tom is relieved that she is coming home, as he has been finding it hard to cope with their 3 children. But will things still run smoothly when Sam comes home? Especially with a teenager who has had a difficult last few years; an 11 year old trying to find his feet and a little girl who just wants to get to know her mum
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Merry belated Christmas. Sorry for my lack of updates. I have just been snowed under this year with CATs and to tell you the truth i should be revising for my mocks at the moment. Whoops! But my new years resolution will be to update at least one story per week. Please review and i will update again in the new year. :-)**

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Tom sighed as he looked at his three children sat behind him in the car as he up took the long journey back to Holby. All three of them were exhausted but in various states of sleep; Ella, his oldest was staring out the window, wide-awake, purposely ignoring him as usual, her headphones plugged in as always. At 14 she was just like her mum, strong willed and a definite rock chick. Her eyes were bright blue and her hair was the same colour as her mums but it had an uncontrollable wavy/curliness, which she had definitely inherited from Tom. Jamie was sat fast asleep on the other side of the car in order to stop him and Ella fighting. Jamie was the middle child and at 11 was still finding his feet. He tried to act strong like Ella but Tom knew that on the inside he was insecure and had a soft side. Everyone said that Jamie was the splitting image of Tom but whenever Tom looked at he could see that Jamie had Sam's bluey grey eyes. Sat in the middle was Rosie, Tom's little darling; she was only 4 and had been a surprise. Her mum had been unsure whether to keep her or not as she was unsure as to whether she would be able to cope with another child. But Tom had worked hard to persuade her to keep the baby and was so glad that he did because as soon as Tom had laid eyes on her he had fallen in love. Rosie was the smiley sort of person who could just light up a room, and no matter what she could always make Tom feel better. Rosie had reddish coloured hair that was dead straight and was always put into pigtails but Tom as they made her look impossibly cute.

Tom smiled as he looked back at Rosie, who was trying as hard as possible to stay awake. "You alright there" he said softly. "Mmhm" Rosie replied nodding, "Are we almost home?" "Not quite baby girl" Tom replied quietly, "why don't you try and get some sleep". Rosie wrinkled her nose and shook her head, "No daddy, I'm a big girl now". Tom couldn't help but laugh at his little girl who was growing up too fast just like his other two kids. He wished that he could rewind time just so that Sam could witness their children growing up.

It had been a hard 18 months, Tom had been trying his best to be a good parent but with Sam out on her second tour in 3 years, the kids were finding it hard to cope. Particularly Ella as she was definitely Sam's girl and was finding it very hard to be apart from Sam especially as she had some trust issues regarding Tom; but he knew it was all his fault and just wished he could make it right. Tom also knew that Ella needed a mother as a teenage girl especially in the vulnerable position she was in. Tom knew that Jamie missed his mum as well, but he got on just as well with Tom and so was coping about as well as any other kid with just their father looking after them. But Jamie worried an awful lot and so Tom understood how the fact that his mum might not return ate Jamie up a lot. And Rosie hardly knew Sam as she had been on 2 tours since Rosie's birth. The young girl asked plenty of questions about her mother and so knew about her from information from her siblings but it obviously pained her that she had no memories of her own about her mum.

This Christmas had definitely been the hardest; all the children had hoped that Sam would be back because she had been out for over 18 months. But they were all really disappointed that she wasn't home and the disappointment on all their faces on Christmas morning had broken Tom's heart. He had also wanted to see her. Tom missed Sam more than anything and every time the phone rang unexpectedly, his heart would be in his throat as he hoped it wouldn't be bad news.

And that was why Tom was so relieved that Sam was coming home tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys. HAPPY NEW YEAR! This is quite a long update as I doubt I will be able to update until the weekend because my parents are having a go at my about revising for mocks :-( Anyway please review and I will see you in the new year. :-)**

**BTW the bits in italics are flashbacks**

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Tom finally turned into the drive of his and Sam's 4-bedroom house. He was glad to be home, as much as he enjoyed spending time with his kids and parents in Cornwall, Ella had been a total recluse and had spent most of her time by herself as she felt uncomfortable around lots of people. But the other two children had enjoyed themselves, particularly Jamie who had surprised everyone with his artistic skills after spending some time with Tom's sister who is an artist. Rosie had just loved being by the sea for a weekend and seeing her happy made Tom happy.

Tom let Ella climb out of the car and grab her bag before he gently picked Rosie out of her car seat because it was 11:30pm and so she was understandably fast asleep. He carefully carried her inside and laid her on the sofa so that he could wake Jamie and bring in the rest of the bags. Tom gently shook Jamie's shoulder to let him know they were home and then went to the boot of the car to get out the suitcases and carry them to their respective bedrooms. By the time he went back down to find Rosie she was already awake but till incredibly dopey, "Come on then Rosie posie, lets get you to bed" he said as he gently picked her up off the sofa and carried her to her room. Tom decided to leave her in her travelling clothes as she looked exhausted and so just tucked her in and give her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Next Tom went to go and check on Jamie and he found him fast asleep in bed. Tom smiled as he saw his son's wrinkled up face that he always wore when sleeping; it was very similar to Sam's sleeping face. Tom softly ruffled his son's curly hair and rearranged the duvet so that Jamie would be slightly warmer because he knew that also like Sam, Jamie would often wake up in the middle of the night freezing.

Finally Tom made his way up to the attic, which had been converted into a bedroom with ensuite for Ella when Rosie was born. He always enjoyed the few times he visited her room as Ella had decorated it in a style that well and truly suited her. He could also remember vividly Sam and Ella decorating it together and the mess they made.

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_Tom stood leaning on the doorframe as he watched his two girls decorating; Sam was about 34 weeks pregnant and so was trying to do as little work possible and was just bossing Ella around, which suited her down to the ground. "No! You're supposed to use the roller in up and down strokes," Sam shouted as Ella purposely messed around with the roller with a cheeky grin on her face just so that Sam would come and help her. Sam slowly got up with an over dramatic sigh, and took the roller of her and continued painting the walls a pale bluey-green colour. Ella took a few steps back as if to admire her handiwork and ended up tripping over the paint pot. Sam turned around just in time to see her daughter fall over into the paint on the floor. She couldn't help but laugh, "come on clumsy clogs we have work to do you know" she said still laughing. Ella screwed her face up into a mock scowl and flicked a handful of paint in Sam's direction. Sam soon retaliated and it turned into a mini paint fight in which paint went everywhere. "Oi you!" Sam said as she began to tickle Ella which was one of her biggest weaknesses, soon both girls where lying on the floor covered in paint but still laughing._

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That was one of Tom's last happy memories of Sam and Ella before Sam went to Afghanistan about 9 months later. Tom slowly pushed open Ella's door to find her sat on her bed in her pyjamas and one of Sam's old sweatshirt that she had adopted after Sam went on tour, surrounded by her usual tablets and 2 syringes. It was easy to forget that Ella was ill, she never showed any signs of weakness or illness apart from the 3 times a day when she had to dose herself up with so many different types of medicine that even Tom didn't know what they all did. He watched as she slowly undid the bandage covering her cannula and inserted the first syringe, injecting herself with some form of medicine, something she had learned to do long ago. Then she picked up the second one but Tom noticed that she was struggling; "hey you" he said softly, "let me help you with that". To Toms surprise she reluctantly handed it over and held out her arm so that he could carefully inject the fluid. "I'll get Zoe to do you a new cannula tomorrow, yea?" he said as he watched her smoothly take about 5 or 6 tablets while nodding in agreement. Ella gave him a small smile in thanks and he opened his arms requesting a hug; her reply was a shake of the head, which Tom had come to expect so he said good night and left the room. Tom knew that Ella didn't trust him but hoped that he could slowly regain it by taking small steps and he hoped that her letting him help her was the first small step of many.

Now that he had checked on all of his children, Tom got ready for bed and was just leaving the bathroom when he saw Rosie's small figure climbing the steps one at a time up to Ella's room. He contemplated just going to bed but curiosity got the better of him so he quietly followed Rosie and stood at the door to find out what was going on. "Ella, can I sleep with you tonight" Rosie said in her small voice, "of course you can little girly" Ella replied while yawning. Ella lifted Rosie onto her bed and Rosie snuggled down under the covers until she was lying facing Ella. "Ella, what is mum like?" she asked her eyes wide and alert compared to Ella's which were clouded with sleep. "She is brave and strong, both physically and mentally. She is not afraid of anything apart from losing us. She likes to act all tough and not show her emotions in front of anyone but really on the inside she is very soft and kind." Ella replied with a smile on her face, Rosie looked deep in thought, "Can you tell me a memory about her, because I can't remember any".

"Of course I can. Well, I remember just after you were born, dad was stood holding you as mum was sleeping as it hurts a lot to have a baby. You of course had already got dad wrapped around your little finger but mum hadn't been awake long enough to see you yet. When she woke up, she was a little woozy from the pain relief so when she held you she looked at you, giggled and said 'her cheeks are rosy red' and that was how your name came about." Ella said as she stroked Rosie's hair, "Night night" Ella said as Rosie dropped off to sleep.

Tom stood there for a few seconds with tears in his eyes; he could remember that moment vividly as though it was yesterday. But it broke his heart that Rosie couldn't remember her mother at all.

Tom made his way back to his room and as he lay down in the bed that had felt too big and empty since the moment Sam left, he picked up his phone just to check it before he went to sleep. A smile filled his face as he read his one new message.

Sam: 'On my way'


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys! Sorry I'm a day late :-P, its just that I have been revising and I only have one mock left. YaY! But that does mean that I'll have to do twice as many in year 11 next year :-(. So what is everyones opinion of the new doctor, Ethan. Personally i quite like his weird personality and sense of humour but then again my sense fo humour is quite similar. Enjoy, and please review. :-)**

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Tom stirred as he felt his bed shake; opening his eyes he saw the unmistakable sight of Rosie clambering over his bed towards him. "Good morning little one" Tom said as he reached over and pulled Rosie into a hug. She giggled at him and said, "I'm not little anymore, look how strong I am" as she pushed her way out of Tom's arms. "Oh really!" Tom replied, sitting up and tickling Rosie before throwing her up in the air and catching her. A few minutes later, after Rosie had attempted to punch him in return and Tom had retaliated by tickling her again, they were both wide-awake. Tom looked towards the clock, and sighed when he realised that he had to be at work in an hour. He thought to himself that there was no way he could get all three of his children up, dressed and breakfasted in that time, especially as Jamie and Ella wouldn't want to get up till at least noon.

"Right, Rosie Posie, we have 50 minutes to get up and ready to go out. I can't get everyone ready by myself so I have a plan. I'll go and get Jamie up while you go and get Ella up. Whichever pair is dressed and downstairs first gets to choose what's for breakfast. Ok?" Tom said slyly knowing that Rosie would do anything to have waffles for breakfast. Rosie nodded happily and leapt off the bed. Tom could hear her small feet pounding as she ran the Ella's staircase.

Once up in Ella's room Rosie climbed up onto Ella's bed and started jumping in the hope that the movement would cause the teenager to stir. As she hoped, Ella started to moan, "Rosie go away, it's too early! Leave me alone!" Rosie laughed and said "No! Daddy said that we have to get up!" Ella rolled over and her muffled reply was, "I don't care". Rosie carefully crawled under the cover so that she was lying face to face with Ella, "But we get to choose what's for breakfast if we are ready first!" she said hopefully. Ella wasn't usually a soft person but the look of hope and innocence on Rosie face made her sit up; "Fine! You go and pick out some clothes while I have a shower and then I'll help you get dressed".

Meanwhile Tom walked into Jamie's room with the intention of waking him up but when he saw how exhausted his son looked and how peacefully he was sleeping, he decided to leave Jamie asleep while he had a shower. It wasn't as though Jamie would take that long to get dressed and Tom knew that he had to let Rosie win, or he would face her wrath, and although she was only 4 she definitely hold a grudge.

About 20 minutes later Tom walked down the stairs to find Ella and Rosie messing up the kitchen. "We're having waffles!" Rosie shouted gleefully. "Oh I can tell!" Tom replied as he surveyed the kitchen, there was flour everywhere and the eggshells had just been left on the side, not to mention the fact that Rosie had been a little bit enthusiastic with the electric whisk. Tom started to tidy up as Ella finished making the waffles, so by the time Jamie appeared they were all able to eat together. Tom always enjoyed family breakfasts, as it was one of the few times Ella was actually sociable. Her and Jamie were bickering over which waffle topping was better; maple syrup or strawberry jam, Rosie was sat, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she attempted to create a masterpiece with chocolate sauce.

Tom had left the kids in the staffroom, Ella had her phone and headphones as usual, Jamie was trying out his newfound art skills on his new sketchpad and Rosie was playing with her new doll she got for Christmas. He had been told to report to Zoe by Noel and so he knocked on Zoe's door. "Come in" was the reply from inside, so Tom walked in and closed the door behind him. "You have a good Christmas?" Zoe asked caringly, to which Tom nodded in return. "Any news on Sam?" Zoe said, while Sam was away her and Fletch had become 'uncle' and 'auntie' fletch and Zoe and so she really cared about the children. Tom smiled, "Don't tell them but she's coming home today. It's a surprise for them, but saying that I don't really know what time she's getting here." Zoe could hear the excitement in Tom's voice and she couldn't help but smile. It would be nice that Sam would be home for the New Year; she really felt that the kids deserved it. Tom excused himself and got to work.

A few hours later, Tom was just discharging a patient when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled his phone out and saw he had a new text from Sam, '10 minutes'. Tom hurried to reception in order to talk to Noel and Louise, he had already asked them to film the moment the kids saw Sam. he was the sentimental type and thought that it would make a nice memory in a few years time.

Now all he had to do was get the kids into reception with out them suspecting anything.

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**Next chapter: Sams home**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Sorry once again for the slowish update! To make up for it i will update another one of my stories either tonight or tomorrow! Anyways, what do you think of Cal, I think that he seems like an interesting character although i do prefer Ethan. Please review. :-)**

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Tom stuck his head around the staffroom door to see all three children looking suitably bored. Tom composed himself so that they did not see him grinning otherwise they might think something was up. "Hey guys," he said and they all looked up at him, "Noel has a job for you if you're bored". Rosie got up smiling and said "Yay! Uncle Noel always has sweeties!" Jamie got as well, stretching from being hunched over his sketchbook all morning. Ella stayed where she was, raising her eyebrow as if to say 'you can't make me'. "Ella, please go with them and look after them." Tom told her, sounding a little annoyed. Ella sighed as she stood up but smiled as Rosie grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the door.

Sam got out of the taxi and after paying the driver, turned around. The ED hadn't changed at all; it was still just as busy; with ambulances pulling up, patients walking around and paramedics handing over to the doctors. She knew that she missed the safeness of the ED, and the calmness she felt around her colleagues, but she also needed the adrenaline rush of being on the front line. As she walked towards the door, she thought about how she would see her children again, and that both excited and worried her, Sam had never fully felt like a natural mother, and so she was always scared that she would do something wrong. But want she wanted more than anything was to be in Tom's warm arms again, that was what she had missed more than anything.

Tom followed his children to the reception, where he saw Zoe lurking in the corner, he knew that she wanted to see the kids reaction just as much as him. Noel started to stall Ella and Jamie by talking about his new action figure, while Rosie was given a lollipop to keep her occupied. Tom kept glancing at his watch, willing the seconds away until he would see his beautiful wife again, until his family would be whole again.

Sam pushed open the door, and noticed that the reception had been redecorated. Right by, the desk she could see her family, so far only Tom had noticed and he had a smile so huge on his face that Sam couldn't help but smile back. Suddenly Ella turned round and saw her; Sam opened her arms as Ella came running towards her. Sam engulfed Ella in a huge hug; it had been so long since she had held her daughter. Ella had grown up so much since Sam had last seen her; she was taller than her now and looked more and more like her. Soon enough Jamie joined them, and all three of them stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, crying. Sam did not want to let go of her two babies who had grown up so much.

Tom wiped away a tear as he saw his wife and two eldest children back together again. He was so happy that Sam was back, but he decided to give them a bit of space; after all he would have plenty of time with Sam later! Tom felt something tugging his sleeve; he looked down and saw Rosie staring back up at him with her big grey eyes, looking slightly scared and unsure of what was going on. Tom reached down and picked Rosie up, before carrying her over to where Sam was standing. Tom smiled as he said, "Rosie, say hello to your mummy!"

Sam stood still, unsure what to do, she hadn't ever really got to know Rosie and to be honest she had run away to the army so that she didn't have to raise another child she didn't feel ready for, a child that Tom had fought so hard to keep. But she could see Tom's hopeful face as he stood before her, holding Rosie, who looked about as unsure as Sam felt. "Hi there!" she said to Rosie as her other to children stepped back, to give them room. "Hi" Rosie replied in a tiny voice. Tom gestured for Sam to take hold of Rosie, and so she shakily took her from him, trying to remember what to do as she felt like it had been so long since she held a baby.

Tom watched as Sam took hold of Rosie, and started a small conversation with her about how big she was getting. All of sudden Rosie wrapped her arms around Sam in a hug, and Sam stood there for a second looking surprised, but then she looked towards Tom who gave her a small nod urging her on, and she adjusted her grip until she was cuddling Rosie properly.


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